


Finding Out: Nikki Carpenter

by blackrose1002



Series: Finding Out [2]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Feels, Light Angst, M/M, Nikki is not very nice here, set in the "Finding Jack" universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 16:47:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackrose1002/pseuds/blackrose1002
Summary: Part two in a series of fics set in the "Finding Jack" universe, featuring reactions of different people to finding out about Jack and Mac getting together.Nikki had always been quite good at getting what she wanted, so she hoped that after some time and a few more apologies, they would be able to pick up their relationship where they left off, putting the past behind them.





	Finding Out: Nikki Carpenter

**Author's Note:**

> The second fic in the series! Thank you so much for the lovely comments under the fic about James, they mean the world to me!
> 
> This one is about Nikki, and well, like with James, I may have projected my dislike for her to my fic. Just a warning.

_Eight months after Jack’s kidnapping_

Straightening her shoulders and putting a smile on her face, Nikki Carpenter exited the elevator in the Phoenix Foundation and headed for the war room. When she had been told by her boos at the CIA to head to the Phoenix Foundation in order to share intel with them about one of the Colombian cartels they had been investigating, she had been elated. Nikki had been back in Los Angeles for a while now, done tracking the Organization for now, and she had been waiting for the right moment to reunite with Mac and get back into his life. Getting a chance to work with him and the rest of the team would give her an opportunity to do just that. Nikki knew that Mac had been hurt by her actions – faking her death and then letting him believe she was a traitor was a hard pill to swallow, and despite their brief reconciliation before catching Thornton, Nikki was aware that Mac probably still didn’t trust her, at least not as fully as before. Fortunately, Nikki had always been quite good at getting what she wanted, so she hoped that after some time and a few more apologies, they would be able to pick up their relationship where they left off, putting the past behind them.

Nikki had missed Mac, more than she would ever admit out loud, and if she played her cards right, she would never have to be without him again. After being back together for a while, maybe she would be able to convince him to leave the Phoenix Foundation and join her at the CIA – this way they could work and be together all the time, and that was something Nikki had been dreaming about ever since she left after capturing Thornton.

Stepping into the war room, Nikki’s eyes immediately fell on the only person in the room, a woman she instantly recognized as Director Matilda Webber.

“Agent Carpenter.” Webber greeted her with a polite smile. “Come on in, the team should be here any minute.”

“Director Webber, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Nikki said. “I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.”

“I’ve heard about you quite a lot as well.” Webber replied, the smile disappearing from her face and her voice getting colder. “Not necessarily positive things if I’m being honest.”

Nikki held her head high, not that surprised by the harsh words, and was about to reply when she heard footsteps and voices sounding behind her. Seconds later, Mac walked in, followed closely by Jack, Bozer and Riley Davis, the girl they had recruited to replace her after she left. They must have been informed about her coming in because none of them seemed surprised to see her, and for a second Nikki wondered what their initial reaction had been. Right now, they were looking at her with neutral expressions on their faces, with the exception of Jack whose eyes were studying her intently, his lips pursed, making it quite clear he wasn’t happy to see her. If she was being honest, she was a bit intrigued by Jack’s obvious hostility, but she chose to ignore it for now - it didn’t matter to her nearly as much as her ex-boyfriend’s reaction.

“Nikki.” Mac said, looking at her calmly, and Nikki was surprised at the total lack of affection in his eyes – he was looking at her as if she was an acquaintance or a colleague, nothing more. “It’s been a while.”

“How about we get started?” Webber’s voice made Nikki turn her gaze away from Mac. “Tell us what you know, agent Carpenter.”

Disappointed at her first interaction with Mac, Nikki swallowed it down, proceeding to pass on the intel the CIA had on the Colombian cartel, _Los Asesinos_. Every now and then she couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Mac, but the expression on his face was still the same, polite as he listened attentively, but nothing more than that.

“And that’s all we have gathered so far.” Nikki finished, handing a flash drive to Webber. “Everything I told you is also on this drive.”

“We really appreciate your help.” Webber nodded, handing the drive to Riley. “If we find out more, we’ll be sure to let the CIA know.” She added and the final tone in her voice made it clear that the meeting was over. As everyone moved to leave the war room, Nikki knew it was her best shot to get a moment alone with Mac.

“Hey, Mac?” Nikki called out. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure.” Mac said after a second, moving back while everyone else walked out of the room. “What’s up?”

“I just… I wanted to apologize, again.” Nikki fiddled with her fingers, looking at Mac under her eyelashes. “For everything.”

“You did what you thought was right.” Mac shrugged.

“Yeah.” Nikki nodded, doing her best to ignore the awkward silence that fell between them. “Anyway, I’m back in LA now, so I was wondering if you’d like to maybe get a coffee some day?” She smiled shyly, tugging her hair behind her ear.

“Actually, I don’t think that’s the best idea.” Mac said slowly and Nikki frowned in confusion.

“What? Why?”

“I see what you’re doing, Nikki.” Mac sighed. “And I need you to know that there’s no bringing back what we had.”

“Mac, I know what I did hurt you and that I have to earn your trust again.” Nikki said, putting her hand on Mac’s arm, smiling sadly. “I’m willing to work for it, but you need to give me a chance.”

Taking a step back, shrugging her hand off in the process, Mac crossed his arms, as if he wanted to put as much distance between them as possible. “The thing is, Nikki, the only thing I could offer you, is maybe being friends, but I’m not sure about even that.” He said. “You and me… It’s obviously something you still want, but there’s no going back to that. So I think we’re better off without each other at all.”

“Mac…” Nikki trailed off, not knowing what else to say – of all the scenarios, she hadn’t predicted this one where Mac would want nothing to do with her.

“Besides, if that’s not a reason good enough for you,” Mac continued. “I am with someone, so I’m not available this way, not to you, not to anyone.”

Hearing Mac’s words, it felt as if someone had punched the air out of her. Logically, Nikki knew she had been gone for a long time and maybe she should have seen it coming, but for some reason she was _so sure_ Mac’s feelings hadn’t changed and he had been waiting for her to come back all this time. How foolish she was.

“Take care, Nikki.” Mac said with a gentle smile, the one he always used when he was turning someone down, and walked out of the war room, leaving her standing in the middle, speechless and unable to move. She had expected many directions her conversation with Mac could go in, but Mac not wanting to see her again, moving on, being in a relationship _with someone else_? In her darkest nightmares she couldn’t have predicted that, and now that all of her plans seemed to fall apart, she felt more lost than ever before.

Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. Clenching her fists, she opened her eyes and strode out of the room, determination filling every cell in her body. There could be a lot of things said about her, but Nikki Carpenter definitely wasn’t a quitter and would not give up that easily. Two years of a relationship was not something that could be thrown away just like that – Mac was hers and no one else’s, despite the fact that he seemed to have forgotten about it and about how great they were together.

Nikki would do anything in her power to remind him of just that.

* * *

Later in the evening, when Nikki was sure Mac would be already back home from work, she pulled up next to his house. As she walked up to the door, she smiled at all the memories flooding her mind, but pushed them away, focused on her plan and why she was there. Back when she and Mac were together, she would have walked right in, but this time she chose to ring a doorbell, not wanting to risk annoying Mac by barging into his house uninvited.

It took a few seconds, but then she heard footsteps on the other side and when the door opened revealing Mac, she gave him a small smile, ignoring the way the expression on Mac’s face quickly morphed from a greeting one to a guarded one the moment he saw her.

“Nikki.” He sighed, sounding tired. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you about something.” She said, biting her lip. “It’ll only take a moment, I promise.”

Opening the door wider, Mac gestured for her to come in and then, after closing the door, he immediately headed for the deck. Following him outside, Nikki was surprised to see Jack was there as well, sitting by the fire pit, a bottle of beer in his hand.

“Jack.” Nikki started and there it was again, that dark look Jack was throwing her. “I didn’t expect you here.”

“Well, that makes two of us.” Jack replied, taking a sip from the bottle. “Because I sure as hell didn’t expect _you_ here, darlin’.”

Realizing that if she wanted to have any kind of conversation with Mac, it would have to be with Jack being there as well, Nikki turned her gaze back to Mac. “Look, Mac… I know you said you’re with someone, but I need to make sure you understand something.” She started, ignoring Jack huffing and muttering something intelligible under his breath.

“That girl you’ve been seeing, how serious is that? Is she in our line of work or is she a civilian?” Nikki asked, looking at Mac earnestly. “Because if she’s a civilian, you can’t tell her who you really are, and do you really think a relationship based on this kind of lie will last? You deserve better than that, Mac.”

“First of all,” Mac started, looking at her with narrowed eyes. “You shouldn’t have assumed it’s a girl I’ve been dating.”

“What?” Nikki’s eyes widened in shock.

“I’m not sure why you’re so surprised.” Mac raised his eyebrow. “You know I swing both ways.”

“Yeah, I just…” Nikki trailed off. “We’ve been together for two years, so I kind of assumed-“

“That I turned straight?” Mac scoffed. “Yeah, it doesn’t work like that. And back to your question, yes, it’s serious, we’ve been together for eight months. And he knows exactly what I do for a living, so it’s not an issue.”

“Mac, please.” Nikki said pleadingly. “You and I… we were so good together. And two years is such a long time, please, don’t throw this away.”

“You threw it away first.” Mac replied quietly. “But I should thank you for that, actually. If it wasn’t for your betrayal, there’s a chance we still would be together, and I wouldn’t get a shot at being with the person I have loved for years.”

“Years?” Nikki repeated incredulously. “You just said it had been eight months.”

“I may have officially been with him for eight months, but unofficially? We have been together for years, only neither of us had realized.” Mac said, a soft smile appearing on his face and it killed Nikki that she was not the reason for it. “You say the two years you and I have been together is a long time, but he had been by my side since 2011, so he beats you here. He beats you in every aspect.”

“Aww, man, you say the sweetest things.” Jack’s voice piped up and when Nikki’s head snapped in his direction, she saw Jack looking at Mac with a loving expression on his face, and it wasn’t until she saw Mac was looking at him in _the exact same way,_ that she understood.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” She said, the realization dawning on her. “Him? You’d rather be with _him_ than with me?!” She exclaimed, not able to stop the slight hysterics from lacing her voice.

“See, I really should be offended by your tone here, but nah.” Jack grinned and it made Nikki’s blood boil. “I couldn’t care less, so have at it, sweetheart.”

“I can’t believe you’re picking him over me.” Nikki said, shaking her head and shooting Mac a disbelieving look.

“I’d pick him over you a thousand times over, any time.” Mac replied, his blue eyes cold when he looked at her, but his voice was still unbelievingly soft, as if he was talking about the best thing that had ever happened to him. “And I think it’s time for you to go. Unless you’d like to question our relationship further, then please, be my guest.” He added, sarcasm lacing his voice, and it only made Nikki angrier.

“You’re going to regret it.” She seethed. “One day you’ll realize your mistake, but it’ll be too late then.”

“I think it’s a safe bet that it won’t happen.” Mac smirked. “But keep dreaming.”

Angry tears welling up in her eyes, Nikki turned around ready to storm out of there, but then she remembered something Mac had said before. “You said you had loved him for years.” She said quietly, without turning back to look at the two men. “So when we were together…” She trailed off, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

“Back then I was sure Jack was straight and would never feel the same way about me.” Mac’s voice sounded after a moment of silence. “So I tried to move on and that’s when you came into the picture. I did love you, Nikki, but…” Nikki squeezed her eyes shut as Mac trailed off. “Never as much as I loved him.”

Without a word, Nikki started walking, crossing the house quickly to get to the front door. As she got into her car, she gripped the steering wheel with her trembling hands and finally let the tears fall. They weren’t the tears of sorrow, but more of frustration, anger and humiliation. The fact that Mac would rather be not only with a man, but with _Jack_ rather than her felt like slap in the face, and Nikki would never forgive him for that.

And one day, when their pathetic excuse of a relationship would fall apart, Nikki would make sure Mac knew how stupid he was picking Jack over her.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, Mac grabbed a beer from the cooler and sat down next to Jack. “Want to tell me what’s going on?”

“Nothin’.” Jack replied, his eyes trained on the fire in front of them.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.” Mac nudged Jack’s shoulder. “Come on, man, you have been tense ever since the briefing in the morning.”

“It’s just… Seeing Nikki, hearing some things she said, it all reminded me that you deserve so much better, buddy.”

“Better than her?”

“Hell yeah.” Jack snorted, giving him a pointed look, but after a second the expression on his face turned somber. “But also better than me.”

“What are you talking about?” Mac frowned, setting the bottle aside, and moved closer, trying to catch Jack’s eyes, hating to see him like this.

“You could be with anyone in the world, Mac.” Jack said, smiling sadly. “But you’re with me, an old man with a questionable past whose only talent is shooting and killing things.”

“You are so much more than that.” Mac said with conviction, grabbing Jack’s face with his hands and making him look at him. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You are the love of my life.”

“I know you’re mine.” Jack leaned into Mac’s touch, but his eyes were still so sad that Mac wanted to scream. “But you’re young, who knows who you’ll meet-“

“You are the love of my life.” Mac repeated, pressing his forehead against Jack’s and grabbing the back of his neck with his hand to keep him close. “And you’re a good man. The best man I’ve ever known.”

“I want to believe you, Mac, I really do.” Jack closed his eyes, finding Mac’s other hand and squeezing it hard. “But sometimes… it’s harder than usually.”

Pressing his lips to Jack’s, Mac poured all of his love into the kiss, and after a moment, he felt Jack relax slowly under his touch. “Then I’ll keep proving it to you every single day.” He promised, pulling away only far enough to whisper the words against Jack’s lips.

“God knows I don’t deserve you.” Jack said quietly. “But I love you too much to let you go.”

“And I already told you,” Mac replied. “I’m not going anywhere. Not ever.” Leaning in, he kissed Jack again, deeper this time. “Oh, and Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“You deserve everything. You deserve the world. So if I hear you say you don’t deserve me one more time, I’m going to kick your ass.”

Jack chuckled against Mac’s cheek. “I’ll try to stop doing that.”

“One more thing.” Mac grinned, moving away as Jack chased his lips.

“What is it?”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment if you liked the fic!


End file.
